Empire Rise: Spain

Chapter 54: Conviction Is Hard, Acquittal Even Harder

Inside the vast and luxurious Madrid Royal Palace, a conversation laden with deep meaning was unfolding.

“Your Majesty, what is Prime Minister Primó trying to do? Is he going to ruin the entire Spanish Church?” Archbishop Pedro displayed his innocence and indignation the moment he saw Carlo, trying to win Carlo’s sympathy.

“What happened? Bishop Pedro.” Carlo certainly understood what had happened to the Church’s people, and Carlo was even one of the planners of the plan to purge the Church.

But at this critical juncture, it was best to pretend not to understand. At least, Archbishop Pedro’s indignation was entirely borne by Prime Minister Primó, and it wouldn’t cause Carlo any loss.

“I know the assassination of Prime Minister Primó is a major matter, but they can’t arrest the Church’s bishops without evidence, right?

Your Majesty, the government has currently arrested more than ten bishops, and the arrest operation is still ongoing. If you don’t stop it, I’m afraid tomorrow I will also be arrested by Prime Minister Primó.” Archbishop Pedro continued.

“It’s not that serious, is it? Bishop Pedro. I approved the citywide search in Madrid. If bishops are arrested, it must be because they are also suspects, right?

If you have any questions, you can go protest to Prime Minister Primó. Marquis Primó is not an arbitrary person. If you can prove those bishops’ innocence, the government will definitely release them.” Carlo would not hinder Primó’s purge of the Church. The best way was to kick the ball to Primó.

Carlo’s meaning was very simple. If Archbishop Pedro possessed sufficient evidence to prove those bishops were innocent, then of course he could pressure Prime Minister Primó to demand the government release the Church personnel.

But the difficulty was precisely here. Although Prime Minister Primó did not have complete evidence to prove the Church’s responsibility, it was still easy to produce some evidence to pin crimes on these Church personnel.

Proving guilt is difficult; proving innocence is even harder.

Archbishop Pedro clearly did not have sufficient evidence to prove those Church members were innocent, which also meant that Prime Minister Primó possessed sufficient evidence to continue detaining those Church personnel.

Seeing that he could not seek any sympathy or protection from Carlo, Archbishop Pedro finally realized that the situation was serious.

Either Carlo truly knew nothing and naively believed that the government’s arrests were all justified.

Or Carlo knew everything, and even this arrest of Church personnel was something agreed upon between Carlo and the government, with the purpose of settling accounts with the Church.

But regardless of which outcome it was, it was not a good thing for the current Church and Archbishop Pedro.

If they could not obtain the king’s support, relying solely on the Church’s strength to confront the current government would truly be like an egg striking a stone.

Just the fact that Primó controlled the army doomed the Church to be unable to contend with the government.

Moreover, Carlo’s words also reminded Archbishop Pedro. Compared to the Church, the government was clearly standing on the side of public opinion.

The prime minister being assassinated leading to a citywide manhunt was reasonable, right? Discovering suspects during the manhunt and arresting them was reasonable, right?

As for why most of those arrested were Church personnel, what responsibility did the government have?

As long as Archbishop Pedro could not prove that these arrested personnel were all innocent, the Church would have to bear the crime of being suspected of murdering the prime minister.

Looking at Carlo’s calm smile, how could Archbishop Pedro not understand that the young king before him was playing dumb.

Archbishop Pedro was certain that most of the Church’s members were unrelated to the assassination incident, as the Church’s top leaders knew nothing about it at all.

But at this moment, the Church could not shake off the suspicion, because in Primó’s reforms, the decree to abolish the tithe made the sole victim precisely the Spanish Church.

The Church, dissatisfied with the government abolishing the tithe, assassinating Primó who was promoting the reforms in an attempt to restore tithe payments, seemed like a very reasonable motive.

No matter how Archbishop Pedro and the Church argued, they could not get rid of their suspicion and could only passively endure in this incident.

After leaving the Royal Palace, Archbishop Pedro sighed and still decided to head to Primó’s residence to find a solution for this matter.

The Church was currently at a loss for words, but allowing the government to arrest Church members unchecked was absolutely unacceptable.

The only way was to negotiate with Primó, reach a compromise on certain interests, and exchange for the government to cancel the arrests of Church members.

Primó was not a simple man of army background. Archbishop Pedro understood that if he engaged in talks with Primó, even if he could resolve this incident, it would inevitably cost the Church enormous interests.

But at this moment, there was no other way. If it were the Church’s heyday now, Archbishop Pedro would definitely challenge the government no matter what, without the slightest shrink back.

Unfortunately, religion’s influence on the public had greatly diminished, and it currently possessed no ability to subvert the government.

More importantly, even the Pope was trapped in the Vatican Palace. What could they, these archbishops, do?

The facts had already proven that ecclesiastical authority could no longer be mentioned in the same breath as regime authority. Before the massive institution of the national government, religious forces had to yield and had no choice but to yield.

Inside Primó’s residence, Prime Minister Primó was inquiring about the situation regarding the arrests.

Hearing the news that Archbishop Pedro sought an audience, Primó smiled, appearing not surprised at all.

“Respected Prime Minister, when will you abandon the arrests of Church members?” The moment Pedro entered the room, he appeared furious, quite dissatisfied with the government’s arrest actions.

“Bishop Pedro, shouldn’t you go ask the Church’s bishops? When all the fish that slipped the net are arrested, that will be when the police stop acting.” Primó said with a smile on his face.

“Prime Minister, those you are arresting are all Church personnel, bishops of the Church, not traitors who planned the assassination! I hope you can give me a reasonable explanation. Is this how you treat God’s devout believers?” Archbishop Pedro always wanted to keep himself in the dominant position, continuously challenging Prime Minister Primó.

“No, Bishop Pedro. If they have nothing to do with the assassination incident, I believe no police would go after them. If you want to exonerate them, please bring sufficient evidence at best.” Prime Minister Primó was not a weak person. After hearing Archbishop Pedro’s incessant questioning, he stood up and said with a cold smile: “

If you don’t have sufficient evidence to prove their innocence, can I understand that you intend to challenge the government’s authority for these bishops?”

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